The European Commission gave its green light a new Spanish scheme for the early depreciation of assets acquired via finance leases. According to the Commission, and following a long investigation, this scheme does not constitute state aid under EU rules, inter alia because it is not selective.

The European Commission Vice-President in charge of competition policy, Joaquín Almunia announced that following a long discussion, the Commission approved a new finance lease scheme that is compatible with EU state aid rules on the basis of the latest proposals submitted by the Spanish authorities. This new, non-selective scheme will, in particular, make it possible to address the concerns of the Spanish shipbuilding sector without distorting competition in the EU Single Market. In May 2012, the Commission also announced that €265 million public funding granted to the Ciudad de la Luz must be recovered by Spain.

The new scheme makes it possible to deduct for tax purposes the cost of certain assets acquired through leasing as soon as their production begins, without having to wait for them to enter into commercial use. It therefore adds to the possibility already available to Spanish taxpayers of accelerating the deduction of such costs by reference to the payments made under a leasing contract.

The investigation carried out by the European Commission concluded that this scheme does not constitute state aid under EU rules, since it does not favour some undertakings over others. The scheme applies to all types of tangible capital assets acquired through leasing, provided they are manufactured according to the purchaser’s technical specifications (goods which can be mass-produced are therefore excluded) and that it takes at least a year to produce them. Goods produce outside Spain are eligible in the same way as those produced in Spain. The measure is, furthermore, automatic and not subject to prior approval by the tax authorities.